Province
of Detroit
Pope Pius XI created the Province of Detroit
Map of the Province
Catholic History of Michigan
The first Europeans to visit Michigan were the Jesuit
priests, Charles Raymbault and (now Saint) Isaac Jogues who came as missionaries
to the Native Americans living near what is now Sault Ste. Marie in 1641. Throughout the rest of the 17th
Century, other missionaries, such as Marquette, Menard, Allouez, Nouvel,
Dollier, and Hennepin, established missions for the conversion of the Native
Americans at various locations including Sault Ste. Marie, St. Ignace, Keweenaw Bay ,
Thunder Bay , Niles ,
and Saginaw Detroit
The British gained control of Michigan Michigan
became part of the United States
following the American Revolution (except for Detroit Michigan
Territory Michigan Michigan
Pope Gregory XVI created the Diocese of Detroit in
1833. Detroit
then was Michigan Michigan , Wisconsin ,
Iowa , Minnesota ,
and parts of North and South Dakota Michigan Michigan ’s population grew from 2.4 million in 1900 to
5.3 million in 1940 and in response, Pope Pius XI raised Detroit
to an Archdiocese in 1937 and created the Dioceses of Lansing in 1937 and Saginaw Michigan ’s
population has risen to 8.9 million and Pope Paul VI created the Dioceses of
Gaylord and Kalamazoo
Father Gabriel Richard was born in France in 1767, ordained
a Sulpician priest in 1791, and came to the United States in 1792. After serving in Illinois ,
he was transferred to Ste. Anne’s Church in Detroit
in 1798 and he would remain in Detroit Michigan
and in 1809 published a newspaper, which was the first in Michigan
and the first Catholic newspaper in the United States University of Michigan Michigan Territory Detroit
Archdiocese of Detroit
The Archdiocese of Detroit consists of six counties in
southeastern Michigan
Bishops of Detroit
Frederick J. C. Rese (1791-1871)
·
Born in Germany and ordained a priest in Europe
in 1823.
·
First
Bishop of Detroit (1833-1871).
Rese came to the United States in 1825 to serve the Diocese
of Cincinnati. As the first Bishop of
Detroit (he was the first German-born American bishop), he governed a diocese
that included Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and part of the
Dakotas. There were 8 churches and one
mission served by 11 priests. He
established Holy Trinity Church in Detroit for English-speaking Catholics, and
other new parishes and schools. He built
a hospital and other charitable institutions, and brought the Poor Clares to
establish a convent and school. By 1838,
there were about 22,000 Catholics in the Diocese, half of whom were
French-speaking. He went to Europe in
1838 and in 1840 agreed to accept Peter Lefevere as coadjutor bishop and apostolic
administrator. Rese suffered from mental
illness (perhaps caused by alcohol abuse) and faced financial difficulties in Detroit
Bishop Lefevere became coadjutor bishop and apostolic
administrator of Detroit in 1841, although he never became Bishop of Detroit
because he died before Bishop Rese.
Bishop Lefevere took over a Diocese that (by 1843) included only the
State of Michigan and had 24,000 Catholics, served by 30 churches and 18
priests. Lefevere established fiscal
control in the Diocese and opened a seminary.
He brought in religious orders to open schools and charitable
institutions, including St. Joseph 's Retreat in Dearborn , which was run by the Daughters of Charity and
was Michigan
Casper H. Borgess (1826-1890)
- Born in Germany and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cincinnati in 1848.
- Served as coadjutor bishop and apostolic administrator of Detroit (1870-1871).
- Bishop of Detroit (1871-1887).
Bishop Borgess served as apostolic administrator of Detroit
from 1870 to 1871. Bishop Borgess helped
establish what is now the University of Detroit Mercy and SS. Cyril and
Methodius Seminary. He also established
the Diocese’s first St.
Vincent de Paul Society in 1871 at St. Patrick’s Church. He attempted to increase the number of
U.S.-born priests and bring discipline to all of his priests, which sometimes
caused conflict with European-born priests who made up almost half of his
clergy. He also fought the Michigan
John S. Foley (1833-1918)
·
Born in Baltimore and ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1856.
·
Bishop of
Detroit (1888-1918).
Bishop Foley was Detroit’s first American-born bishop and he
led the Diocese for 30 years during a time when whites came from Europe and
African-Americans came from the South to work in Detroit’s new automotive
industry. He established the Diocese’s first
Eastern-rite Catholic parish (St. John the Baptist) in 1908 and the first
African American parish (St. Peter Claver) in 1911. He also helped establish the League of
Catholic Women in 1906 and what is now Marygrove College in 1910. At the time of Foley’s death, the Diocese had
386,000 Catholics served by 318 priests, 246 churches, and 102 parish schools. Bishop Foley’s older brother, Thomas, served
as apostolic administrator and coadjutor bishop of Chicago. Foley died in 1918.
Michael J. Gallagher (1866-1937)
·
Born in Auburn, Michigan, and ordained a priest
for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1893.
·
Served as coadjutor bishop of Grand Rapids
(1915-1916) and Bishop of Grand Rapids (1916-1918).
·
Bishop of
Detroit (1918-1937).
Bishop Gallagher established a central office for control of
the Diocese’s schools and set standards for teachers and teaching
materiel. He and the other Michigan Detroit
Archbishops of Detroit
Edward F. Mooney (1882-1958)
·
Born in Maryland and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio, in 1909.
·
Also served as apostolic delegate to India
(1926-1931), apostolic delegate to Japan (1931-1933) and Bishop of Rochester,
New York (1933-1937).
·
First
Archbishop of Detroit (1937-1958).
·
He given the personal title of Archbishop in
1926 and was named a Cardinal in 1946.
Cardinal Mooney became Archbishop during a time when
autoworkers were trying to unionize their plants and Mooney clearly sided with
labor in the right to unionize. He was a
proponent of social justice and sought to improve the lives of working class
Americans. He also faced a problem with
one of his priests, Father Charles Coughlin, who had developed a large
following with his weekly radio program and newspaper. By the time Mooney became Archbishop,
Coughlin had become an anti-Semite and a harsh critic of President Franklin
Roosevelt, and Mooney ordered his silence.
Mooney opened St. John Provincial Seminary and helped establish Mercy
College and Madonna College. The
Archdiocese’s population grew to 1.3 million during Mooney’s time as
Archbishop, and he opened 100 new parishes and many other Catholic
institutions, including family service centers, and homes for those with
special needs, but also put the Archdiocese on a firm financial basis. He served as chairman of the National
Catholic Welfare Conference (now the National Conference of Catholic Bishops) from
1937 to 1945. Cardinal Mooney died in
1958.
John F. Dearden (1907-1988)
·
Born in Rhode Island and ordained a priest in
1932 for the Diocese of Cleveland, Ohio.
·
Served as coadjutor bishop of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
(1948-1950) and Bishop of Pittsburgh (1950-1958).
·
Archbishop
of Detroit (1958-1980).
·
Pope Paul VI named him a Cardinal in 1969.
Dearden was very involved in the Second Vatican
Council. He helped plan it and he spoke
often during the Council. After the
Council, he was a national leader in implementing the Council’s decrees,
especially for the use of English during Mass and for improving ecumenical
outreach. As Archbishop, he established
a committee to address race relations, conferences to inform the clergy, the
religious, and the laity about the Second Vatican Council and to get their
opinions on how to implement the Council’s decrees, and he ordained the
Archdiocese’s first permanent deacons.
He founded the Michigan Catholic Conference and led the Archdiocese to
become the first U.S.
Edmund C. Szoka (1927-2014)
- Born in Grand Rapids and became a priest for the Diocese of Marquette in 1954.
- Served as the first Bishop of Gaylord (1971-1981)
- Archbishop of Detroit (1981-1990).
- He was named a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
- Later served as President of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See (1990-1997) and as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (1997-2006).
Cardinal Szoka established an Archdiocesan Presbyteral
Council and reorganized the Archdiocesan Tribunal. He created the Pastoral Telecommunications
Center and the Catholic Television Network, which brings the Faith to almost
one million subscribers. In order to
ensure the Archdiocese’s financial stability, Szoka closed 33 parishes, but he
opened some as well, including parishes for Catholics originally from Albania,
Korea, and Uganda. He also ordained the
Archdiocese’s first African-American auxiliary bishop, Moses Anderson. Cardinal Szoka was appointed President of the
Vatican’s Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See in 1990.
Adam J. Maida (born 1930)
- Born in Pennsylvania and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1956.
- Served as Bishop of Green Bay, Wisconsin (1983-1990).
- Archbishop of Detroit (1990-2009).
- Pope John Paul II named him a Cardinal in 1994.
Cardinal Maida restructured Sacred Heart Seminary and opened
St. John Center for Youth and Family
on the grounds of the former St. John Provincial Seminary. He established an educational endowment
program—Stewards for Tomorrow, renovated Most Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, and
developed a pastoral plan for Hispanic Catholics. He dealt with the clergy sexual abuse scandal
and wrote a pastoral letter on assisted suicide to counter a Michigan man’s
campaign in favor of such an act. He
retired in 2009.
Current Archbishop
Allen H. Vigneron was appointed Archbishop of Detroit by
Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. He was born
in Mount Clemens , Michigan
The Cathedral
Cathedral of the
Most Blessed Sacrament
9844 Woodward Avenue
9844 Woodward Avenue
The Blessed Sacrament refers specifically to the Sacrament
of the Eucharist. Christians believe
that Jesus turned bread and wine into his Body and Blood at the Last
Supper. Each Catholic Mass commemorates
this great gift from God.
Most Holy Trinity;
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most
precious body, blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the
tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and
indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His
Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the
conversion of poor sinners.
When Bishop Rese became the first Bishop of Detroit in 1833,
he selected Ste. Anne’s Church, then located on Bates Street, to be his Cathedral. Ste. Anne’s is the oldest Catholic parish in
Detroit, started in 1701 by Frenchmen led by Antoine de Cadillac (the founder
of Detroit). The current Ste. Anne’s was
built in 1886 and is located on Ste.
Anne Street.
Bishop Lefevere made the newly built SS. Peter and Paul church, located
at Jefferson and St. Antoine, to be his
Cathedral, in 1848. Bishop Borgess gave
this church to the Jesuits in 1877 to start what is now the University of
Detroit-Mercy. (SS. Peter and Paul is
the oldest church building in Detroit.) St.
Aloysius Church on Washington Boulevard then served as the Diocese’s
pro-Cathedral. (This building was torn
down in 1930 and replaced with the current St. Aloysius Church.) St. Patrick’s church on Adelaide Street became
the new Cathedral in 1890. (St.
Patrick’s parish closed in 1973 and the church was destroyed by an arsonist in
1993.)
The top two pictures are of St. Anne from Wikipedia and Flickr. The bottom two are from the SS. Peter and Paul website.
Most Blessed Sacrament parish was established in 1905 to
serve Catholics who then lived just north of the Detroit city limits. The first pastor, John Connolly, selected
Henry Walsh of Cleveland Detroit
Most Blessed Sacrament Cathedral is built in a Norman Gothic
style and is made of Ohio sandstone and Indiana limestone. The Plaza outside of the front entrance has
the name of every parish in the Archdiocese carved in granite on plaza
walls. Above the entrance are life-sized
statues of saints and a rose window.
There are five bays on each side of the Cathedral separated by flying
buttresses and each containing a large Gothic window. A spire also rises from the center of the
Cathedral. The vaulted interior is made
of marble and stone.
The top picture is from Flickr, the second from Wikipedia, and the last from the Cathedral website.
The Cathedral website at one time had a detailed description
of the Cathedral including the Christian symbolism behind many of the
architectural details. I do not usually
provide this much detail, but since this information seems to have disappeared
from the website (referenced below), I will include it all.
[Begin quote] From the creation
experience of the plaza, the slight incline of the walkway signifies life's
uphill journey. Entering the dark, womb-like vestibule of the Cathedral,
worshippers pass an evocative, candle-lit shrine to Mary, the mother of all
Christians, and the porta coeli, the welcoming gate of Heaven. Through the
vestibule doors, pilgrims are drawn from the dark into the light of the worship
space. One of the integral elements in the redesign of the Cathedral is the
experience of light in a new way - the light that unifies and animates all
creation.
With walls now pierced by
reflective glass prisms, light replaces the fortress-like darkness of the
original Gothic design. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great
light; upon those who dwelt in the land of gloom a light has shone (Isaiah
9:1). Now, no matter the time of day or the season, those inside the Cathedral
are never shut off from an awareness of the rhythm and reality of the world
outside. The sunlight that enters the upper part of the nave gives life to the
antique stained glass windows. These windows celebrate the history of the
Church and the glory of the saints. The same light that makes history come
alive, pours through the lower nave in a pure, direct way, expressing God's grace
in this particular moment of time - light ever ancient, ever new. The Cathedral
illumination is reversed at night through the use of prism transparencies. Thus
when darkness falls outside, the lights of the Cathedral's interior project
outward to the street, alerting and inviting passerby to the life inside.
The baptismal font carved deep into
the floor of the main aisle momentarily halts the journey into the worship
space. Its placement is deliberate - even confrontational. Before anyone enters
into "sacred mysteries" they must first reject the darkness of sin
and experience the regenerative power of baptism. In the early days of
Christianity, this baptismal ablution was called "illumination." The
power of this font is meant to recapture some of that experience of
enlightenment for all who enter the Cathedral. Like the pillar of fire that led
God's chosen people on their journey through the desert, the paschal candle
towers over the baptismal font. It spreads its light over this full immersion
pool shaped to mirror the anatomy of the person descending into these
regenerative waters. As the rock gave water to God's people in the desert, the
upright stone basin supplies circulating water for the font. It also provides a
place for infants to be baptized and allows others to sign themselves with the
blessed water reminding them of their own baptism.
In the sanctuary, five
strong, white stone mountain-range formations rise from the floor of the
Cathedral marking specific areas for liturgical activity. These rock-like focus
points are intended to recall Christ's promise to Peter: I for my part
declare to you, you are 'rock', and on this rock I will build my Church and the
jaws of death shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18). In the center
of the sanctuary are: the altar, the axis for the entire building; the ambo,
the elevated bema, from which the Scriptures are proclaimed; and the cathedra,
or chair of the archbishop, from which the building derives its name. The
mountain formations here, made from Italian Botticino Fiorito stone, are meant
to evoke Mount Tabor near Nazareth, the traditional site of the
Transfiguration. The scriptural accounts of the Lord's Transfiguration give
testimony to Christ's glory being manifest in light. Just as the disciples were
drawn into the privileged moment of the Transfiguration, so too are those who
come to worship in this Cathedral. A double ramp provides a barrier-free
approach to the altar. The stone inlay floor of the sanctuary replicates the
one originally installed a half-century ago, and from a distance reads like
colorful glacial scree that builds up at the base of a mountain range.
The ambo, the highest area of the
sanctuary used during the liturgy, is the place from where the Word of the Lord
is proclaimed. The word "ambo" is derived from the Greek verb,
amabainein, which means, "to go up." The shape and size of the new
ambo recalls the elevated pulpits found in cathedrals built during the
Romanesque and Middle Ages. It is from this point the faithful are called to
listen and to make a covenant with God. The height of this platform is meant to
provide better visibility of the lector/homilist and better audibility for the
important words spoken from there. Signifying the dignity of the activity that
takes place at the ambo, the steps, as well as the book stand, are rosewood. A
state-of-the-art sound reinforcement system has been created for the Cathedral
to compensate for acoustic problems inherent in the space.
Opposite the ambo is the cathedra,
the oldest insignia of a bishop's teaching office. The chair is the sign that
he, like the apostles and prophets, is invested with the authority to preside
over God's people. As Moses witnessed the transfiguration, this "seat of
Moses" stands as an ancient sign of leadership. From here, the archbishop
brings insight to the Scriptures as he preaches, teaches and presides as chief
celebrant of the Eucharist. Speaking and acting ex cathedra (from the chair),
the archbishop proclaims Christ as the light of humankind … a light that shines
on in the darkness of a troubled world. The rosewood outline gives the cathedra
a more human dimension. The archbishop's personal coat of arms above the chair
signals he is the proper and only occupant of this seat. Upholstery in bright
red, the heraldic color of a cardinal, further defines this chair of office.
The center of the sanctuary
mountain-peak formations commands attention to the stone and glass altar. In a
building named for the Most Blessed Sacrament, it is appropriate that the altar
is the focal point of the worship space. The placement of the altar was the
initial step in the design process. The word "altar" comes from the
Latin adolere, which means, "to burn." It is a reminder that ancient
sacrifices to God were usually immolated, i.e., burnt offerings. According to
Old and New Testament customs, the altar is fashioned as a table of sacrifice,
as well as the paschal banquet table. Like a table, the altar has four legs
that carry the solid-stone slab mensa. Beneath the mensa are four sand-cast
cruciform pieces of glass illuminated from within. This glass also contains
saints' relics from the previous altars in the Cathedral. In addition to these
relics, Cardinal Maida added the relics of three recently canonized saints:
Elizabeth Ann Seaton, Katharine Drexel and Faustina Kowalski. Because the
altar is Christ, it is seen to radiate as the face of Jesus did at His
Transfiguration. The words of the liturgy of the dedication of an altar confirm
this image: Light of Christ, shine on this altar and be reflected by those
who share at this table. As a table where the sacrifice of the cross is
perpetuated, the Cathedral altar is a permanent fixture worthy of bearing the
weight of so great a mystery. It is open and accessible from all sides allowing
the faithful to gather in thanksgiving and receive the body and blood of
Christ. The carved wood crucifix suspended over the altar was originally hung
in the Cathedral as a memorial to those who gave their lives in World War I.
The position of the crucifix also references the sacrificial mountain of
Calvary.
One of the goals of the most renovation
was to provide a special place for the tabernacle and personal prayer in the
Cathedral whose name honors the abiding presence of Christ in the Eucharist. A
sanctuary lamp announces the Eucharistic Reservation Chapel from the main nave.
This ever-burning lamp, cradled in limestone, is a reminder of the words of the
Easter Vigil proclamation: the light that no darkness can extinguish. A second
sanctuary lamp hangs dramatically from the chapel ceiling, further emphasizing
the Lord's abiding presence. Directly on axis with the altar, the peaks of the
mountain-like formation begun in the sanctuary reach over the tabernacle. The
word "tabernacle" is taken from the Latin word for tent. Peter
offered to set up a tent on Mount Tabor to house the transfigured Christ. This
chapel recalls that event with carved French Caen stone statues of Christ and
those mentioned in the Transfiguration account: Christ, Peter, James, John,
Moses and Elijah. St. Paul, who experienced a conversion in a blinding light
and whose epistles contain so much about the importance of the Eucharist for
the early Christian community, is also given the honor of being represented as
part of this gathering. The statues are taken from the original reredos of the
apse. Mary, Joseph and other saints are honored on the sidewalls in carved Caen
reredos relocated from the former side altars. The restored cedar coffered
ceiling harkens back to the architecture of the Jerusalem temple built by
Solomon. In this setting, the tabernacle recalls that ancient image of a
"house" for the divine presence. To accommodate personal prayer in
the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, this chapel is also accessible through a
separate entrance.
At the right of the cathedra, there
is another reservation area, crafted out of the same Botticino stone of the
other mountain-like formations. This triple peak holds the three vessels of
holy oils. Called "the ambry," from the Latin word for armory, this
is the storehouse from which these oils, meant to provide God's protection, are
dispensed to all the parishes in the Archdiocese. The archbishop is the chief
consecrator of these oils. Locating them next to his cathedra symbolizes that
all the pastoral care of the Archdiocese is, in a certain way, connected to his
apostolic office. These three oils are the spiritual resources for initiating
new members (oil of catechumens), for healing (oil of the sick) and
consecrating churches, altars, and sacred ministers (Chrism).
The Cathedral is a place where
direction can be given and reconciliation can begin. Carved into the northeast
wall of the Cathedral is an opening that leads a penitent to two confessionals,
or reconciliation chapels. Another peak of Botticino stone announces this
location in the Cathedral. Amply sized and brightly lit, these rosewood-lined
rooms are soundproof, and allow penitents to choose anonymity or a face-to-face
dialogue with the confessor. The oblique angles of these rooms repeat the
design of the sanctuary while expressing the uniqueness of every act of
reconciliation that takes place within. Original sculptures of the crucified
Christ grace the walls of each of these rooms.
Those who have come to worship at
Blessed Sacrament Cathedral may want to hold onto the experience in much the
same way the disciples did after observing the transfigured Christ on Mount
Tabor. Speaking for the group, Peter wanted to set up tents so he and the
others could spend more time on the holy mountain. With this in mind, the newly
crafted porches and walkways are intended to give the worshipper the sheltered
space they need to linger and interact with those who have shared the same
sacramental experience. Even the newly configured parking plan allows for
better human interaction. Those visiting or passing by the Cathedral at night
are struck by the dramatic exterior lighting piercing the darkness. The freshly
cleaned rock-faced ashlar sandstone from Ohio and the smooth-faced carved details
of the Indiana limestone exterior of the Cathedral now glisten in the sunlight
and in the artificial light that is poured on it at night. At the apex of all
this golden-glowing stone is the soaring copper fleche, which is illuminated
after sunset, making it far brighter than the rest of the building. This spire
is directly above the Cathedral altar and serves as a beacon to the
neighborhood of the promise of the Blessed Sacrament, the presence of Christ
who is forever the Light of the World.
Christ's light and life shines into
Blessed Sacrament Cathedral through the craftsmanship of William Willet. This
artisan, known for reviving and perfecting rich colors in transparent stained
glass, was commissioned to create the 22 large Medieval-styled windows throughout
the church building. A century ago, the prevailing taste in ecclesiastical
windows was for opalescent glass. Willet thought this went against the primary
reason for a window's existence, the admission of sunlight. He rediscovered a
technique used in the Middle Ages called the "pot metal process,"
which produced very deep colors without inhibiting transparency. By dissolving
certain metal oxides into glass in its liquid state, he learned the molecular
structure of the solution absorbs wavelengths of certain colors. Particles of
gold, for example, dispersed in the glass, give it a ruby red color. Iron
oxide, on the other hand, makes glass read green. The color process Willet
perfected technically and aesthetically was such an improvement over what was being
produced at the time, it sparked a new age of stained glass and gave the Willet
Studios in Philadelphia an international reputation. Blessed Sacrament
Cathedral contains Willet's earliest and finest work. His Life of Christ and the
Early Church series of windows in the clerestory begin with
the Nativity in the back of the north wall. The work continues around the back
apse and finishes in clockwise pattern down the south wall of the nave, where Pentecost is depicted. There is
an intentional chronological error in the apse windows where the Lord's Carrying of His
Cross on Good Friday is inverted with the Institution of the Holy Eucharist on Holy
Thursday. This was done in order to honor the event in Christ's
life from which the Cathedral takes its name. It also draws attention to the
altar wherein the Lord's Supper is extended into our time. In lancet windows
beneath this New Testament history, the Procession of Saints
series of windows depict heroes and heroines from every era of Christendom -
those to whom we can look up to with pride. These holy women and men join those
assembled on earth in one great communion. The great windows of the north and
south apses are arguably Willet's tour de force in this building. The north
window, called the Holy Name Window, is an excellent example of how pot
metal glass produces rich, jewel-like colors of ruby, amethyst, emerald and
sapphire. In order to achieve such depth of color, there may be as many as
three layers of pot glass in a single facet. Records indicate this window alone
took a year to complete. It depicts the great liturgy at the end of time,
wherein Christ will gather around him the souls of the just in an endless
symphony of praise. Filling the whole wall of the south apse in the Eucharistic
Reservation Chapel is a window depicting the Genealogical Tree of Christ.
Mary, the first "tabernacle" for Jesus, is the predominant figure.
Beneath her is Solomon holding a model of the "tabernacle" he built
in Jerusalem. Willet's use of subdued colors, with pastel and natural tones,
give this window a softness unlike all the other windows in the building. The
Assumption scene in the front wall and the St. Cecilia Window in the
rear complete the windows in this chapel. The Rose Window over the Woodward
entrance is entitled Cherubs in Glory. More than 100 small tracery
openings are woven of stone and filled with thousands of glass fragments in a
brilliant variety of colors ranging from light yellows and golds, flaming into
rubies and crimson, finally blending into rich blues and purples. This circular
window is best appreciated in the late afternoon, when the sun streams through
bathing the interior with a warm glow, reminding the viewer of the glory of the
life to come. Willet's inspiration of using sunlight as a "building
material" is furthered by the 2003 renovation of the Cathedral and
architect Gunnar Birkerts' focus on the use of light both in and outside the
church building.
Blessed Sacrament is a great enough
church to house two pipe organs. The original organ is a Casavant Frère. This
instrument is the work of the famed French Canadian organ builder, Casavant
Frère in St. Hyacinth, Quebec. Frederic Fisher, of the automotive family which
still funds its upkeep, donated it to the church in 1925. Its 55 stops of more
than 3,500 individual pipes are hidden in chambers behind the stone walls of
the choir loft. Built and voiced for the liturgical music of a pre-Vatican II
Church, this instrument is at its best when accompanying chants or playing
compositions of the Romantic era. Its three manual consoles are each composed
of 61 keys and a 31 note pedalboard. The Casavant Organ console is currently
being renovated. Old mechanisms are being replaced with solid-state materials.
When the renovation is complete, it will be possible to program 99 levels of
memory. The Cathedral's second organ was made in the United States. The Austin
Organ was built in Hartford, Connecticut. This instrument is designed to
support congregational singing. Its crisper sound and its location in the main
body of the church are indicative of the different role it plays in our worship
today. The Austin Organ has 1,745 pipes and is composed of 32 stops capable of
producing an almost limitless number of tonal variations. The largest speaking
pipe is about 23 feet long and the smallest about the size of an ordinary lead
pencil. Once the renovations of the Casavant Organ are complete, it will be
possible to play both organs from the Austin Organ console. Together, these two
instruments allow church musicians to convincingly play sacred music from many
different musical eras. Rich and sonorous each in their own unique ways, the
organs of Blessed Sacrament Cathedral fill its worship space with power and
majesty. [End quote]
Additional information can be obtained
on the Cathedral’s website at cathedral.aod.org and on the Archdiocese’s
website at aod.org. The Cathedral of the
Most Blessed Sacrament is located about three miles northwest of downtown
Detroit and has one weekend mass. Both the Cathedral and Ste. Anne’s
church are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The first two pictures are from the Cathedral website, the third is from Flickr and the last from Wikipedia.
Also located in the Archdiocese
There is one Eastern Rite Catholic cathedral and one
basilica in the Archdiocese of Detroit.
Our Lady of Chaldeans Cathedral in Southfield
is the Cathedral church for the Chaldean-rite Diocese of Detroit—one of two
Chaldean-rite dioceses in the United
States
The Shrine of the
Little Flower Basilica is in Royal Oak.
The parish was established in 1926, one year after the canonization of
St. Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower.
The Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on the property shortly after the parish
was established and the first church later burned to the ground. The current church was completed in 1936 by
Father Charles Coughlin, discussed above, who used the church tower to broadcast
his radio program. The tower incorporates
a 28-foot tall crucifix. The church was
designed by Henry McGill of New York in a zig-zag Art Deco style and the main
building is made of granite and limestone.
Corrado Parducci created elaborate interior sculptural work, including a
lectern and Stations of the Cross, and also did some exterior work. The Basilica also has hand-painted murals by
Beatrice Wilczynski. The octagon-shaped granite baptismal font was designed by
liturgical artists Robert Rambusch and Mario Agustin Locsin y Montenegro. The pipe organ has 6,734 pipes and the
basilica incorporates 17 tons of Italian marble in its designs. The basilica seats 3,000 people. Pope Francis designated
the church as a minor basilica in 2015.
Basilica is an honorary title bestowed on a church by the Pope because
of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical importance, or significance as a
center of worship. The Basilica website,
shrinechurch.com, has a virtual tour of the basilica.
Diocese of Marquette
The diocese consists of the 15 counties in the Upper
Peninsula of Michigan. The Diocese has 43,000
Catholics (14 percent of the total population) in 72 parishes as of 2015.
Bishops of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette
Frederick Baraga (1797-1868)
·
Born in Slovenia and ordained a priest in Europe
in 1823.
·
Vicar
Apostolic of Upper Michigan (1853-1857), Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie (1857-1865)
and Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1865-1868).
Bishop Baraga was one of the great missionary bishops of the
United States. He came to the United
States in 1830 and the following year was sent by Bishop Edward Fenwick of
Cincinnati to establish a mission to the Ottawa tribe at what is now Harbor
Springs, Michigan. He spent the next two
decades bringing the Faith to the Ottawa and Ojibwe tribes and to other Native
Americans throughout Michigan and along the southern shore of Lake Superior,
traveling on foot and by canoe during the summer and on snowshoes during the
winter. He wrote several publications in
Native American languages, including the first Objibwe grammar and dictionary,
catechism, and prayer books. He wrote
many other publications as well—he spoke seven languages—and by the 1840s began
to minister to European immigrants who came to the Upper Peninsula to mine iron
and copper. When he became a bishop in
1853, his vicariate apostolic had three churches and two other priests, but he
greatly increased both numbers by the time of his death. He was known for his saintliness throughout
his life—he got up every morning at 3:30 a.m., to pray for three hours. Bishop Baraga died in 1868 and is buried at
St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette. Baraga
was raised to the status of Venerable by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012—the second
step toward canonization.
Ignatius Mrak (1810-1901)
·
Born in Slovenia and ordained a priest in
Austria in 1837.
·
Bishop of
Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1869-1878).
Mrak came to the United States in 1845 and was assigned to
the Native American missions in Michigan.
He eventually became vicar general of what is now the Diocese of
Marquette and became bishop after the death of Bishop Baraga. He took over a diocese that had 20,000
Catholics served by 14 priests. Mrak
continued his work with Native American missions, worked to improve the
education of his priests, opened schools, and sought lay participation in the
administration of parishes. His health
failed and he was allowed to resign as bishop in 1878. At that time, the Diocese had 27 churches and
20 priests. He eventually regained his
health and returned to the Indian missions where he served for over 15
years. He spent the last years of his
life in Marquette.
John Vertin (1844-1899)
·
Born in Slovenia and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette in 1866 (the last priest ordained by
Bishop Baraga).
·
Bishop of
Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1879-1899).
Bishop Vertin built new parishes to keep up population
growth caused by ore and timber booms—partially with his own money. He built the current St. Peter’s Cathedral
(after a fire destroyed the previous Cathedral), as well as three high schools
and four hospitals. He also convened a
synod in 1889 to implement the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. Bishop Vertin died in 1899.
Frederick Eis (1843-1926)
·
Born in Germany and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette in 1870.
·
Bishop of
Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1899-1922).
Bishop Eis convened a Diocesan synod in 1905 and built
several hospitals and homes for the needy.
He retired in 1922.
Paul J. Nussbaum C.P. (1870-1935)
- Born in Pennsylvania and ordained a Passionist priest in 1894.
- Served as the first Bishop of Corpus Christi, Texas (1913-1920).
- Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie-Marquette (1922-1935).
Bishop Nussbaum served during the Great Depression, which
caused significant job losses in the Diocese.
He faced a shortage of priests as well, but recruited other Passionist
priests to the Diocese. Bishop Nussbaum
died in 1935.
Bishops of Marquette
Joseph C. Plagens (1880-1943)
·
Born in Poland and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Detroit in 1903.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit
(1924-1935).
·
Bishop of
Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1935-1937) and first Bishop of Marquette
(1937-1940).
·
Later served as Bishop of Grand Rapids
(1940-1943).
Bishop Plagens began renovation of the St. Peter’s Cathedral
after it was nearly destroyed in a 1935 fire.
He also began a Catholic Youth Organization program for the
Diocese. Plagens was named Bishop of
Grand Rapids in 1940.
Francis Magner (1887-1947)
- Born in Illinois and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1913.
- Bishop of Marquette (1940-1947).
Bishop Magner
started a Diocesan newspaper, promoted the U.S. Laymen's Retreat Association,
and created seven catechetical schools.
Bishop Magner died in 1947.
Thomas L. Noa (1892-1977)
- Born in Iron Mountain, Michigan, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1916.
- Served as coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, (1946-1947).
- Bishop of Marquette (1947-1968).
Bishop Noa started a Diocesan social services program and
built dozens of churches, schools, and other buildings. He also invited the Sisters of St. Paul of
Chartres to establish their U.S. Motherhouse in Marquette in 1963. Bishop Noa attended all four sessions of the
Second Vatican Council and he retired in 1968.
Charles A. Salatka (1918-2003)
- Born in Michigan and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1945.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Grand Rapids (1962-1968)—the first Lithuanian-American to be ordained a bishop in the United States
- Bishop of Marquette (1968-1977).
- Later served as Archbishop of Oklahoma City (1977-1992).
[I have limited information about Bishop Salatka’s time as
Bishop of Marquette.] Salatka was named
Archbishop of Oklahoma City in 1977.
Mark F. Schmitt (1923-2011)
- Born in Wisconsin and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Green Bay in 1948.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Green Bay (1970-1978).
- Bishop of Marquette (1978-1992).
Bishop Schmitt established a lay ministries leadership
program and started several programs to advance adult faith education. He also began a permanent diaconate program
and ordained 28 men to the priesthood.
Bishop Schmitt resigned in 1992.
James H. Garland (born 1931)
·
Born in Ohio and ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1959.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Cincinnati
(1984-1992).
·
Bishop of
Marquette (1992-2005).
[I have limited information about Bishop Garland’s time as
Bishop of Marquette.] He retired in
2005.
Alexander K. Sample (born 1960)
·
Born in Montana and ordained a priest for the Diocese
of Marquette in 1990.
·
Bishop of
Marquette (2005-2013).
·
Serves as Archbishop of Portland, Oregon (since
2013).
At the time of his consecration, Sample was the youngest
Catholic bishop in the United States and the first to be born in the 1960s. Bishop Sample increased the number of
Diocesan seminarians and developed a curriculum for faith formation for grade
school students. Sample was named
Archbishop of Portland, Oregon, in 2013.
Current Bishop
John Doerfler was appointed Bishop of Marquette by Pope Francis
in 2013. He was born in Wisconsin in 1964
and ordained a priest in for the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, in 1991. He previously served as chancellor and vicar
general of the Green Bay diocese.
The Cathedral
311 W. Baraga
Avenue
Marquette, Michigan 49855
Marquette, Michigan 49855
St. Peter, originally known as Simon, was the first apostle
chosen by Jesus. Peter is frequently
mentioned in the New Testament, and we know that he was a fisherman by trade,
that he was married, that he was the leader of the apostles, and that he often
tried the Lord’s patience. After the
Ascension of our Lord, Peter became the leader of the early church, eventually
going to Rome to become the first Bishop of Rome
O God, who has given unto Thy blessed Apostle
Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and the power to bind and loose: grant
that we may be delivered, through the help of this intercession, from the
slavery of all our sins: Who lives and
reigns world without end. Amen.
After Bishop Frederick Baraga was named Vicar Apostolic of Upper
Michigan in 1853, he selected Holy Name of Mary Church in Sault Ste. Marie as
his Cathedral. It served as the
Diocese’s only cathedral until 1865 and served as the co-Cathedral until
1937. Holy Name parish was established
in 1668 and is the oldest Catholic parish in Michigan
Holy Name Church. The top picture is from the parish website, the second from the Diocesan website, and the third from pinterest.
Also in 1853, Bishop Baraga established Marquette’s first
parish—St. Peter. A small frame church building,
which stood on the site of the current Cathedral, was constructed in the late
1850s and became the Diocese’s co-Cathedral in 1865. It was replaced the following year by a
framed Gothic-style building. This
building burned down in 1879. [It is
believed that it was set on fire by some parishioners who were angry that the
new bishop, John Vertin, had removed Father John Kenny from his position as
Cathedral rector.] Bishop Vertin soon
began construction of the current Cathedral, which was completed in 1890. The Cathedral has undergone several
renovations, including a major reconstruction following a 1935 fire. Both the Cathedral and Holy Name church are
listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
St. Peter’s Cathedral is a twin-towered Romanesque building,
with hints of Gothic. The walls are made
from Marquette sandstone as are the steeple bases. The upper portion of each steeple is made of
brownstone. Each steeple is capped by a
dome and topped with a cross. Statues of
St. Peter and St. Paul are over the entrance to the Cathedral and a
stained-glass window just inside shows a guardian angel holding a small St.
Peter’s Cathedral.
The top picture is from the Cathedral website and the bottom is from Wikipedia.
The ceiling, 67 feet above the floor, is supported by 24
Romanesque pillars faced with red Scagiola marble. The floor is made of red clay tiles embossed
with Christian symbols. The large arch
over the sanctuary begins and ends with colored marble statues of Mary and
Joseph. Along the arch are symbols of
the Trinity, Christ, Mary, Joseph, and the Four Evangelists. Behind the altar is a large Byzantine mural of
Jesus offering the keys of Heaven to St. Peter.
Also shown are the other Apostles with symbols of their life and
death.
The large east transept stained-glass window depicts Christ
the King and his symbols, angels, six apostles, two evangelists, and the
Sacraments of Baptism and Confirmation.
The large west transept window depicts Mary as Queen of Heaven and many
of her symbols, angels, six apostles, two evangelists, and the Sacrament of
Matrimony and the Sacrament of the Sick.
The north transept windows, behind the choir loft, depict musical
saints: Cecilia, Ambrose, and Gregory.
The Stations of the Cross are mosaics made of Venetian
marble. The stained-glass windows on the
right depict the Mysteries of the Rosary, while those on the left depict scenes
from the life of Christ, the lives of the Saints, and other aspects of the
Catholic faith. Along the walls are
shrines to St. Anne, Mother of Mary, and to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament has a shrine dedicated
to St. Theresa of the Little Flower. Her
statue is made of ivory-colored tranny marble, brown Italian onyx, Belgian
black marble, and onyx from Portugal.
The base is made of carved red brocato marble and Italian brown onyx. Stained-glass windows depict six Saintly
bishops. The Chapel also has a statue of
St. Anthony of Padua, an icon of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a Venetian
mosaic of Christ the King, and a mural of the Paschal
Lamb of God. There are also pictures of the
Bishops of Marquette.
All of the marble and mosaic pieces in the church were done
by Giuseppe Tommasi Studios in Carrara ,
Italy
The Cathedral website, stpetercathedral.org,
has extensive detail about the details of the Cathedral. Also see the Diocesan website at dioceseofmarquette.org. The Cathedral is located in downtown
Marquette. The Cathedral has four
weekend masses and one monthly Tridentine Mass.
The top three pictures are from the Cathedral website and the last is from shipview.
Diocese of Grand Rapids
The diocese consists of 11 counties in southwestern Michigan
Bishops of Grand Rapids
Henry J. Richter (1838-1916)
- Born in Germany and ordained a priest in Rome in 1865.
- First Bishop of Grand Rapids (1883-1916).
Bishop Richter organized the new
Diocese and established the Seminary of St. Joseph in 1909. He also helped establish Nazareth College in
Kalamazoo and brought in Dominican Sisters from New York to establish an
orphanage and Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
Richter invited the Sisters of Mercy to establish what is now Mercy
Health Saint Mary’s Hospital in Grand Rapids and Mercy Health in Muskegon. During Bishop Richter’s tenure, the number of
Catholics in the Diocese increased from 50,000 to 150,000, and Richter was able
to increase the number of churches from 33 to 56, the number of schools from 17
to 38, and the number of priests from 36 to 75.
Bishop Richter died after a short illness in 1916.
Michael J. Gallagher (1866-1937)
·
Born in Auburn, Michigan, and ordained a priest
for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1893.
·
Served as coadjutor bishop of Grand Rapids
(1915-1916).
·
Bishop of
Grand Rapids (1916-1918).
·
Later served as Bishop of Detroit (1918-1937).
Bishop Gallagher served in Grand Rapids only briefly before
being named Bishop of Detroit in 1918.
Edward D. Kelly (1860-1926)
·
Born in Hartford, Michigan, and ordained a
priest for the Diocese of Detroit in 1886.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit
(1911-1919).
·
Bishop of
Grand Rapids (1919-1926).
Bishop Kelly was a leader in fighting a proposed Michigan
law that would have required all students to attend public schools. He also built a new St. Joseph Seminary in
1919. Bishop Kelly died in 1926 from
either a hemorrhage or an embolism.
Joseph G. Pinten (1867-1945)
·
Born in Rockland, Michigan, and ordained a
priest for the Diocese of Marquette in 1890.
·
Served as Bishop of Superior, Wisconsin (1921-1926).
·
Bishop of
Grand Rapids (1926-1940).
Bishop Pinten formed the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women
in 1939 and worked to pay off building debts incurred by Bishop Kelly as the
Great Depression came. The Diocese was
reduced in size by the creation of the Diocese of Saginaw in 1938. Poor health forced Bishop Pinten to resign in
1940.
Joseph C. Plagens (1880-1943)
·
Born in Poland and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Detroit in 1903.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (1924-1935),
Bishop of Sault Ste. Marie and Marquette (1935-1937), and Bishop of Marquette
(1937-1940).
·
Bishop of
Grand Rapids (1940-1943).
Bishop Plagens suffered from heart trouble during his short
time as Bishop and he died in 1943 of a coronary thrombosis.
Francis J. Haas (1889-1953)
- Born in Wisconsin and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee in 1913.
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (1943-1953).
Bishop Haas obtained a doctor of philosophy degree in
economics in 1922 and became a life-long proponent of organized labor. He was appointed by President Franklin
Roosevelt to several labor-related boards during the 1930s, served as Dean of
Catholic University’s School
of Social Science
Allen J. Babcock (1898-1969)
- Born in Bad Axe, Michigan, and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1925.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (1947-1954).
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (1954-1969).
Bishop Babcock initiated the Diocesan Council of Catholic
Men in 1954 and began a televised Sunday Mass in 1955, initially from a set at
a television station and later from the Cathedral of St. Andrew. Bishop Babcock also attended the Second
Vatican Council and completed a major restoration and expansion of the
Cathedral of St Andrew in 1963. Bishop
Babcock died of cancer in 1969.
Joseph M. Breitenbeck (1914-2005)
- Born in Detroit and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1942.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (1965-1969).
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (1969-1989).
Bishop Breitenbeck established seven new parishes and saw
the Diocese reduced in size by the creation of the Dioceses of Gaylord and
Kalamazoo in 1971. Bishop Breitenbeck
appointed the first woman as Diocesan chancellor, advocated for the ordination of women and for allowing priests to marry,
encouraged the practice of communal confessions,
allowed divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments,
and preached against nuclear weapons and for workers receiving fair wages. Breitenbeck wrote procedures for handling
clerical sexual abuse and helped establish a program that allowed parishes to
borrow Diocesan funds at a reduced rate.
He also sold the Bishop’s residence and lived in a more modest
house. Bishop Breitenbeck retired in
1989.
Robert J. Rose (born 1930)
- Born in Grand Rapids and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1955.
- Served as Bishop of Gaylord (1981-1989).
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (1989-2003).
Bishop Rose completed a major
renovation of the Cathedral of St. Andrew and also established an education
fund. Bishop Rose retired in 2003.
Kevin M. Britt (1944-2004)
- Born in Detroit and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1970.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (1994-2002) and coadjutor bishop of Grand Rapids (2002-2003).
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (2003-2004).
Bishop Britt served as Bishop for only seven months before
his untimely death in 2004 from hemorrhagic leukoencephalitis.
Walter A. Hurley (born 1937)
- Born in Canada and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1965.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (2003-2005).
- Bishop of Grand Rapids (2005-2013).
Bishop Hurley consolidated three programs into a single
Diocesan Catholic Charities organization.
He also published a magazine to better inform Catholics about their
Faith and began a pastoral planning process to better allocate Diocesan
resources. Hurley had great success in
increasing the number of vocations to the priesthood. Bishop Hurley consolidated Diocesan offices
to a location near the Cathedral in 2008 and created Cathedral Square Center—a
12 acre campus—in downtown Grand Rapids.
Part of the campus includes the Piazza Secchia, modeled on a
Michelangelo-designed piazza in Rome.
Bishop Hurley retired in 2013.
Current Bishop
David J. Walkowiak was appointed Bishop of Grand Rapids by
Pope Francis in 2013. He was born in Ohio
in 1953 and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Cleveland in 1979. He previously served as a pastor and
vice-chancellor for the Diocese of Cleveland.
The Cathedral
Cathedral of Saint Andrew
265 SheldonSE
Grand Rapids , Michigan 49503
265 Sheldon
Grand Rapids
St. Andrew was one of the twelve Apostles and the brother of
St. Peter. After the Resurrection, he is
thought to have performed missionary work in Asia Minor and Greece
Brother of Simon
Peter, you heard John the Baptist say: "Behold the Lamb of God," and
you chose to follow Jesus. Leaving your nets, you became a successful fisher of
souls. Lover of the Crucified Christ, you too were crucified like him. Teach us
to live and suffer for Him and to win many souls for Christ. Amen.
Father Frederick Baraga established St. Mary’s church and
school on the west side of the Grand River in
1833 to serve Native Americans and a handful of settlers. Father Andreas Viszoosky became the first
pastor in 1835 and built a stone church on Monroe Avenue in 1850 dedicated to St.
Andrew. The current building was completed
in 1876 and became the Cathedral for the new Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1882. The Cathedral was struck by lightning in 1901
and destroyed by fire. Rebuilding took
two years.
The Gothic cathedral is built on a foundation of Grand River
limestone originally used in the first St. Mary’s church. The Cathedral is 209 feet long and the main
steeple rises 180 feet from the street and is topped with a 12-foot cross. The bell tower has 10 bells ranging in weight
from 250 pounds to 3,050 pounds that were manufactured by the McShane Bell
Foundry in Baltimore.
The top picture is from the Cathedral website and the bottom one is from the Diocesan website.
The top picture is from the Cathedral website and the bottom one is from the Diocesan website.
The Cathedral has pointed arches and a vaulted ceiling
typical of Gothic churches. The ceiling
is painted blue with gold-leaf stars reflecting the night sky on April 22,
1883, the day the church was consecrated.
The main altar is made of black marble and the Stations of the Cross are
bas-relief sculptures. The Cathedral has
three Lètourneau pipe organs. The
gallery organ in the choir loft has s 56 stops and 72 ranks and is the chancel
organ 22 ranks. The gallery organ console controls both organs. The Chapel organ has 14 ranks to play at
daily Mass.
Additional information, including a panoramic tour, can be
found on the parish website at cathedralofsaintandrew.org. Also see the Diocesan website at
dioceseofgrandrapids.org. The Cathedral is
located in downtown Grand Rapids and has five weekend masses—including one in
Spanish. The Cathedral is staffed by the
Paulist Fathers.
Also located in the Diocese
There is one basilica located in the Diocese of Grand
Rapids—the Basilica of St. Adalbert in
Grand Rapids. The first St.
Adalbert’s church was a small wooden building that served the Polish community
of Grand Rapids. Construction of the
current church began in 1907 and was completed in 1913. The Romanesque church
was designed by Henry Harks of Cleveland and Chris Vierheilig of Grand
Rapids. Two bell towers dominate the
front of the church, which also features a dome rising 150 feet above the floor
of the church. Pope John Paul II designated the church as a minor basilica in 1979. Basilica is an honorary title bestowed on a
church by the Pope because of the church’s antiquity, dignity, historical
importance, or significance as a center of worship.
The Basilica’s website, basilicagr.org, has a tour of the
church complete with beautiful pictures, which I was not able to copy for
technical reasons.
Diocese of Lansing
The diocese consists of 10 counties in south central Michigan
Bishops of Lansing
Joseph H. Albers (1891-1965)
- Born in Ohio and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in 1916.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Cincinnati (1929-1937).
- First Bishop of Lansing (1937-1965).
Bishop Albers served as a chaplain during the First World
War and received a silver star for bravery and valor. Shortly after becoming Bishop, Albers was
seriously injured during a fire at the Cathedral rectory. Bishop Albers built more than 250 buildings
for the Diocese, including about 40 churches and 40 elementary schools and two
high schools to accommodate a 300 percent increase in the number of Diocesan
Catholics. He also started a diocesan
newspaper and attended the Second Vatican Council. He died in 1965.
Alexander M. Zaleski (1906-1975)
·
Born in New York and ordained a priest in 1931
for the Diocese of Detroit.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit
(1950-1964) and coadjutor bishop of Lansing (1964-1965).
·
Bishop of
Lansing (1965-1975).
Bishop Zaleski chaired the doctrine committee for what is
now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops just prior to the Second Vatican
Council, which he attended. He died in
1975.
Kenneth J. Povish (1924-2003)
·
Born in Alpena, Michigan, and ordained a priest
in 1950 for the Diocese of Saginaw.
·
Served as Bishop of Crookston, Minnesota
(1970-1975).
·
Bishop of
Lansing (1975-1995).
Povich was the first Bishop of Lansing to have been born in Michigan. Bishop Povich wrote a column for the Diocesan
newsletter and regularly appeared on a local television program. He also served in several leadership
positions with what is now the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Bishop Povich resigned because of poor health
in 1995.
Carl F. Mengeling (born 1930)
- Born in Indiana, converted to Catholicism as a child, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Gary, Indiana, in 1957.
- Bishop of Lansing (1995-2008).
Bishop Mengeling built more than a dozen new churches,
including churches for the African-American community in Flint, and Hispanic
communities in Lansing and Flint, as well as many new schools. He prepared the Diocese for Jubilee 2000, a
world-wide celebration of the Third Millennium of Christianity. He ordained 33 priests and 43 permanent
deacons and encouraged vocations for women religious. He established a Diocesan magazine to teach
and spread the Faith. He organized youth
programs, but also dealt with the clergy sexual abuse scandal by starting a
program to help prevent further abuse and by visiting victims of abuse. In 2003, he called for an end to the War in
Iraq. Bishop Mengeling retired in 2008.
Current Bishop
Earl Boyea was appointed Bishop of Lansing by Pope Benedict
XVI in 2008. He was born in Pontiac , Michigan Detroit
The Cathedral
St. Mary (Immaculate Conception) Cathedral
219 Seymour Street
Lansing, Michigan 48933
219 Seymour Street
Lansing, Michigan 48933
Many Christians believe that humans are born into sin—known as original sin. This sin is erased through baptism and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Catholics believe that Mary, through the grace of God, was conceived without the stain of original sin—the Immaculate Conception. She was given the honor because of her role as the Mother of God. The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is celebrated on December 8.
Glorious and immortal
Queen of Heaven, we profess our firm belief in your Immaculate Conception
preordained for you in the merits of your Divine Son. We rejoice with you in
your Immaculate Conception. To the one ever-reigning God, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, three in Person, one in nature, we offer thanks for your blessed
Immaculate Conception. O Mother of the Word made Flesh, listen to our petition
as we ask this special grace (State
your intention here). O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother
of Christ, you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth; you
have the same influence now in heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from him
the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will. Amen.
Construction of the
first St. Mary’s—the first Catholic church in Lansing—began in 1856, just nine
years after Lansing was founded. St.
Mary’s, then located on Chestnut Street, became a parish in 1866 when Father
Louis Van Driss was assigned as pastor.
The parish moved to a temporary church in 1904 on Walnut Street in
preparation for construction of the current church, which was completed in
1913. St. Mary’s became the Cathedral
for the new Diocese of Lansing in 1937.
The Cathedral is listed on the National Register of Historic
Places.
St. Mary’s was designed by E.A. Bond of Lansing in a Gothic
Revival style. The baptistery, altar,
and ambo were designed by Robert Rambusch of New York and the baldachin over
the altar was designed by Guild Hall Studios.
The bas-relief depicting the Last Supper was made in Italy. The 12-foot wooden crucifix was made by
Ronald Lukas in 1976 and the corpus was made in Germany.
The Stations
of the Cross were hand painted on copper in Czechoslovakia and were installed
in the mid-1920s and were later restored.
The large high stained-glass windows were made in Germany in 1923 and
the lower windows were made in the United States. The windows depict scenes from the Old and
New Testaments. The icon of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help was a gift from the Vatican in 1992 and the icon of Our Lady of
Guadalupe was made by George Papastamatiou Studios in Toledo 1996 and is made
of with gold leaf and 8,000 marble tiles from Italy. The Casavant pipe organ has 50 ranks of
pipes. The bell tower has four bells.
Additional
information, including a tour, can be found on the cathedral website,
stmarylansing.org,
and on the diocesan website, dioceseoflansing.org. St. Mary’s Cathedral is located in
downtown Lansing and has three weekend masses.
The first three pictures are mine, the last is from pinterest.
Diocese of Saginaw
The diocese consists of the 11 counties in southeastern Michigan
William F. Murphy (1885-1950)
·
Born in Kalamazoo and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Detroit in 1908.
·
First
Bishop of Saginaw (1938-1950).
As Bishop during the end of the Great Depression and during
World War II, Murphy established several Diocesan organizations to help the
poor and disadvantaged, including Catholic Charities, a family services
organization, and an Hispanic ministry—the latter established to help migrant
workers. He also sought to help the
victims of the Second World War in Europe.
Murphy established a Diocesan newspaper and he would also occasionally
preside at the wedding of a poor couple to make their wedding day even more
exciting. Diocesan Catholics increased
by 50 percent during his time as Bishop.
Murphy died in 1950.
Stephen S. Woznicki (1894-1968)
·
Born in Pennsylvania and ordained a priest for
the Diocese of Detroit in 1917.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit
(1938-1950).
·
Bishop of
Saginaw (1950-1968).
Bishop Woznicki started 21 new parishes and built 30 schools
to accommodate a 60 percent increase in the number of Diocesan Catholics. He also started a Diocesan seminary, which
now houses Nouvel Catholic Central High School and the Diocesan offices. Woznicki served one term as president of the
National Catholic Rural Life Conference and attended the Second Vatican
Council. Bishop Woznicki retired in
1968.
Francis F. Reh (1911-1994)
- Born in New York and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of New York in 1935.
- Served as Bishop of Charleston, South Carolina (1962-1964) and rector of the North American College in Rome (1964-1968).
- Bishop of Saginaw (1968-1980).
Bishop Reh implemented the Second Vatican Council changes. He also was one of the first U.S. bishops to
establish a lay formation program that would provide the laity with the
opportunity to improve their relationship with Jesus and grow in missionary
discipleship. He renovated the interior
of St. Mary’s Cathedral in 1978. The
northern portion of the Diocese became part of the Diocese of Gaylord in
1971. Bishop Reh retired in 1980.
Kenneth E.
Untener (1937-2004)
·
Born in Detroit and ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of Detroit in 1963.
·
Bishop of
Saginaw (1980-2004).
Kenneth Untener
was not a traditional bishop. One of the
first things he did was to sell the Bishop’s residence—he moved from one parish
rectory to another (69 times!) during his time as bishop. He was known as a strong leader and sought to
improve the lives of the poor and needy.
He advocated for a greater role for women in the Church and critized the
Church’s ban on artifical birth control.
He also published the popular “Little Books” of prayer for Lent,
Easter, Advent, and Christmas. He
enjoyed playing ice hockey despite having a prosthetic leg. Untener died of leukemia in 2004.
Robert J. Carlson (born 1944)
·
Born in Minnesota and ordained a priest for the
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1970.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of St. Paul and
Minneapolis (1984-1994), coadjutor bishop of Sioux Falls, South Dakota
(1994-1995), Bishop of Sioux Falls (1995-2004).
·
Bishop of
Saginaw (2004-2009).
·
Serves as Archbishop of St. Louis (since 2009).
Bishop Carlson increased the number of seminarians from 4 to
19 in his first two years as Bishop and in 2007 was able to ordain two priests
and ordain five transitional deacons. He
reorganized the Saginaw’s parochial schools and established two charities—the
Bishop’s Charity Golf Classic and the Bishop's Charity Ball—to raise funds for
the Diocese and to help the poor and needy.
Carlson was appointed Archbishop of St. Louis in 2009.
Current Bishop
Joseph R. Cistone was appointed Bishop of Saginaw by Pope Benedict
XVI in 2009. He was born in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania Philadelphia
The Cathedral
Cathedral of Mary of
the Assumption (St. Mary’s Cathedral)
615 Hoyt Avenue
The Cathedral is named for Mary, the mother of Jesus, and
therefore, the Mother of God. From the
earliest days of the Church, Christians believed that Mary, upon her death, was
assumed body and soul into Heaven by her Son.
This belief was formalized in 1950 by Pope Pius XII, who declared that
the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary was a dogma of the Catholic
Faith. The Feast of the Assumption is
celebrated on August 15.
Almighty
and eternal God, who took up into the glory of Heaven, with body and soul, the
immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of thy son: grant us, we pray, that we may
always strive after heavenly things and thus merit to share in her glory. Amen.
Saginaw was first settled in 1819. Mass was celebrated along the west banks of
“Old Saginaw City” by missionary priests from Flint as early as 1841, but it
was not until a vacant carpenter’s shop was purchased in 1852 that St. Andrew
Parish was born. St. Mary’s parish was
established on the east side of the Saginaw River in 1853. What is now the City of Saginaw resulted from
the consolidation of the cities of East Saginaw and Saginaw (West Side) in
1889. Construction began on the third
and current St. Mary’s in 1901 and it was completed in 1903. St. Mary’s became the Cathedral for the new
Diocese of Saginaw in 1938.
The Cathedral’s architectural style is Gothic and it is
constructed with red bricks. St. Mary’s
stained-glass windows are hand-painted and depict events in the life of Christ. The windows were made by the Van Griechten
Company of Columbus, Ohio, and were installed from 1903 to 1908. The Cathedral website, cathedralcscluster.com,
does offer a virtual tour with pictures.
Also see the Diocesan website at saginaw.org.
The Cathedral is
located in less than a mile southeast of downtown Saginaw and has three weekend
masses. The Cathedral is in a cluster of
churches with Holy Family Church and St. Joseph’s Church.
Diocese of Gaylord
The diocese consists of 21 counties in the northern Lower
Peninsula of Michigan. The Diocese has 54,000
Catholics (11 percent of the total population) in 75 parishes. Gaylord is one of a dozen diocesan sees that
has a population of fewer than 20,000 and is one of only 7 diocesan sees in
which the Cathedral parish is the only parish.
Bishops of Gaylord
Edmund C. Szoka (1927-2014)
- Born in Grand Rapids and became a priest for the Diocese of Marquette in 1954.
- First Bishop of Gaylord (1971-1981).
- Later served as Archbishop of Detroit (1981-1990), President of the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See (1990-1997) and as President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State (1997-2006). He was named a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 1988.
Bishop Szoka improved the marriage annulment process for the
Diocese and served as secretary and treasurer of the Michigan Bishops
conference. He was named Archbishop of
Detroit in 1981.
Robert J. Rose (born 1930)
- Born in Grand Rapids and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Grand Rapids in 1955.
- Bishop of Gaylord (1981-1989).
- Later served as Bishop of Grand Rapids (1989-2003).
I have limited information about Bishop Rose. Rose was named Bishop of Grand Rapids in
1989.
Patrick R. Cooney (1934-2012)
- Born in Detroit and ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Detroit in 1959.
- Served as auxiliary bishop of Detroit (1982-1989).
- Bishop of Gaylord (1989-2011).
Bishop Cooney sought clerical and lay consultations through
numerous assemblies and task forces. He instituted
a seven-year plan for evangelization and increased use of broadcast media. He sought to educate Catholics about the
Church’s social teaching and established a center for continuing education in
the Faith. Bishop
Cooney kept the Diocesan budget balanced and established an endowment fund for
the Diocese. Bishop Cooney
retired in 2011.
Bernard A. Hebda (born 1959)
- Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Pittsburgh in 1989.
- Served on the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts in Rome (1996-2011).
- Bishop of Gaylord (2011-2013).
- Later served as coadjutor archbishop of Newark, New Jersey (2013-2015), apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis (2015-2016) and serves as Archbishop of St. Paul and Minneapolis since 2016.
Bishop Hebda served only briefly in Gaylord before being
named coadjutor archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, in 2013.
Current Bishop
Steven J. Raica was appointed Bishop of Gaylord by Pope Francis
in 2014. He was born in Munising,
Michigan, in 1952, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Lansing in 1978. He previously served as chancellor for the
Diocese of Lansing. Bishop Raica has
conversational ability in English, Italian, Polish and Sign Language.
The Cathedral
St. Mary (Our Lady
of Mount Carmel ) Cathedral
606 N. Ohio Avenue
Around 1200, a group of hermits lived on Mount Carmel near
the current day city of Haifa , Israel
You who, with special
mercy, look upon those clothed in your beloved Habit, cast a glance of pity
upon me. Fortify my weakness with your strength; enlighten the darkness of my
mind with your wisdom; increase my faith, hope and charity. Assist me during
life, console me by your presence at my death, and present me to the August
Trinity as your devoted child, that I may bless you for all eternity in
Paradise. Amen.
St. Mary’s parish was established in 1888 and a brick church
was completed in 1901 [at the corner of W. Mitchell and N. Otsego—it is now an
arts center]. This church became the
first Cathedral for the new Diocese in 1971.
From Wikipedia.
The current St. Mary's Cathedral was completed in 1976 and is a Modern octagon-shaped building with a separate bell tower. The bronze statue of Our Blessed Mother at the south entrance was designed by Jim Hopfensperger of Midland.
The top picture is from the Diocesan website and the bottom picture was taken by a friend.
From Wikipedia.
The current St. Mary's Cathedral was completed in 1976 and is a Modern octagon-shaped building with a separate bell tower. The bronze statue of Our Blessed Mother at the south entrance was designed by Jim Hopfensperger of Midland.
Above the entrance to the nave are etchings of Our Lady of
Carmel giving the Scapular to St. Simon Stock and of Elijah confronting the
prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel. At the
entrance is the octagonal baptismal font aligned with the main altar and
cathedra. The main altar is a cube made
of Vermont granite and the tabernacle has the general shape of a monstrance
with a luna suspended in a sunburst. The
stained glass windows depict Mary under her various titles taken from the Litany
of the Blessed Mother. The Stations of
the Cross are sculpted bronze. The pipe
organ was built by the Gabriel Kney Company of Ontario. It has more than 2,000 pipes with 30 stops.
The Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament has an icon depicting
the burning bush that was sculpted out of copper by Vera Bartnik of Traverse
City. The Chapel also has a shrine devoted
to Our Lady of Czestochowa with a copy of a Polish icon. The Chapel windows are wheat-colored to
represent the Body of Christ. Other
shrines are dedicated to the Sacred Heart, St. Joseph, and Bishop Frederick
Baraga, a 19th Century missionary and bishop in Northern Michigan. St. Joseph’s shrine has windows of faceted
glass symbolizing St. Joseph as carpenter and as patron of the universal
church.
A virtual tour of the Cathedral can be found on the Diocesan
website at dioceseofgaylord.org. Also
see the Cathedral website at stmarycathedral.org. The Cathedral is located slightly
northwest of downtown Gaylord. St.
Mary’s seats about 1,000 people and has three weekend masses. St. Mary
Cathedral School has over 350 students in grades K-12.
The top two pictures are from the Diocesan website and the bottom two were taken by a friend.
Diocese of Kalamazoo
The diocese consists of 9 counties in southwestern Michigan
Bishops of Kalamazoo
Paul V. Donovan (1924-2011)
·
Born in Iowa and ordained a priest for the
Diocese of Lansing in 1950.
·
First
Bishop of Kalamazoo (1971-1994).
Bishop Donovan’s new Diocese had 80,000 Catholics served by
80 priests. Donovan organized the new
Diocese and implemented the changes of the Second Vatican Council. He made the changes easier by explaining them
to the people of the Diocese. He
appointed women to lead parishes that did not have a pastor and sought greater
lay involvement in Diocesan activities.
He was considered an effective leader and was known for being kind,
compassionate, and friendly. He retired
in 1994.
Alfred J. Markiewicz (1928-1997)
·
Born in New York and ordained a priest in 1953
for the Diocese of Brooklyn, New York.
·
Served as auxiliary bishop of Rockville Centre,
New York (1986-1994).
·
Bishop of
Kalamazoo (1994-1997).
I have limited information on Bishop Markiewicz, except that
he ordained more than 15 men to the priesthood and almost 30 to the permanent
diaconate, and that he dedicated a dozen new churches. Bishop Markiewicz died in 1997 of a brain
tumor.
James A. Murray (born 1932)
·
Born in Jackson, Michigan, and ordained a priest
in 1958 for the Diocese of Lansing.
·
Bishop of
Kalamazoo (1997-2009).
I have limited information on Bishop Murray, except that he retired
in 2009.
Current Bishop
Paul J. Bradley was appointed Bishop of Kalamazoo by Pope Benedict
XVI in 2009. He was born in Pennsylvania Pittsburgh
The Cathedral
542 W. Michigan Avenue
Kalamazoo, Michigan 49007
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430 A.D.) was born a Catholic in
what is now Algeria, but in his late teens joined the Manichees, a heretical
sect, and about the same time, fathered a son out of wedlock. He eventually returned to the Church,
influenced in part by St. Ambrose, the Bishop of Milan in what is now Italy God Africa , in 395, and
was declared one of the four original Doctors of the Church in 1298. His feast day is August 28.
Holy Spirit, powerful
Consoler, sacred Bond of the Father and the Son, Hope of the afflicted, descend
into my heart and establish in it your loving dominion. Enkindle in my tepid
soul the fire of your Love so that I may be wholly subject to you. We believe
that when you dwell in us, you also prepare a dwelling for the Father and the
Son. Deign, therefore, to come to me, Consoler of abandoned souls, and Protector
of the needy. Help the afflicted, strengthen the weak, and support the
wavering. Come and purify me. Let no evil desire take possession of me. You
love the humble and resist the proud. Come to me, glory of the living, and hope
of the dying. Lead me by your grace that I may always be pleasing to you. Amen. (Prayer of St. Augustine)
Mass was first celebrated in a private home in Kalamazoo in
1832—three years after the first settlers arrived. The first Catholic church was built in 1852—a
600 square foot structure located on West Kalamazoo Avenue. Four years later, St. Augustine Borgess
Hospital
The Gothic Revival Cathedral is made of brick. The Cathedral’s pipe organ was made by the
Casavant Company and has 42 ranks and 34 stops and was renovated in 2002 by
Nichols & Simpson, Inc.
The Cathedral’s website is stakalamazoo.org. The Diocesan website is
dioceseofkalamazoo.org. The Cathedral is
located in downtown Kalamazoo and serves a parish of over 800 families with
four weekend masses. The parish
elementary school has over 300 students.
The top is from Flickr and the bottom is by me.
